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FosseFilberto said:
You make some good points Bucks ... but we did win the title and Mahrez contributed 17 goals himself and was actually involved in more goals than ANY other player in the Prem - including Ozil, Hazard, Payet, Rooney, Silve, Aguerro et al ...

The concept of 'greatnes' perhaps confuses the debate ... for me Mahrez is, without doubt, the most naturally gifted footballer that I personally have seen pull on the blue shirt ...

Each to their own of course, but in my view we would not have won the title if Ranieri hadn't deliberately cut Mahrez some slack on defensive duties ... we scored so many goals from quick purposeful breaks that involved him ...

He put in a fair shift against Arsenal defensively doing the best he could taking into account his lightness of frame ... he's also surprisingly good in the air, often winning headers when you wouldn't expect him to (see Vardy's goal at Stoke last season for a good example)...

For me I am more than happy for him to play as he does ... his fellow team mates seem to love him and understand what his capabilities and weaknesses are without any rancour ...

Players like him are priceless - in terms of entertainment value I think he is fabulous ... not many players could have waltzed through the Arsenal defence like he did at the end ... shame cech saved it ... but moments of brilliance like that keep seats filled.
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We certainly had a formula that worked last season and we had Kante and Drinkwater who took over his defensive duties. This season may be very different if we can't find an effective replacement for Kante. Ranieri certainly wanted to hit the ground running. That hasn't happened. At times like this we need everyone giving their all and no passengers to make sure we get back on track. Some are saying that Mahrez is in fact giving his all and we shouldn't expect more from him. If that is the case then he's either being played in the wrong position or we are not defending correctly.

Our right flank was constantly being cut to ribbons on Saturday. Arsenal looked dangerous every time they attacked down that side and really should have made more of their chances. Teams with a competent central striker almost certainly will. If Mahrez is going to continue to be played in a wide role then the midfield is going to have to push across in order to cover him when he's out of position defensively. This didn't seem to happen on Saturday. Mendy was nowhere to be seen and Simpson was left facing at least two opponents. Whether that was down to poor communication between the players I don't know.

The alternative of playing Mahrez more centrally behind a lone striker is an option. We would have to sacrifice Okazaki's work rate because again Mahrez won't be capable of that, but it would provide him with the opportunity of being able to go right or left against central defenders who would be wary of bringing him down, and it would provide him with the opportunity of slipping Vardy or another central striker in. Forgive me for my poor memory, but did we try that role for him last season?
 
BucksFox said:
We certainly had a formula that worked last season and we had Kante and Drinkwater who took over his defensive duties. This season may be very different if we can't find an effective replacement for Kante. Ranieri certainly wanted to hit the ground running. That hasn't happened. At times like this we need everyone giving their all and no passengers to make sure we get back on track. Some are saying that Mahrez is in fact giving his all and we shouldn't expect more from him. If that is the case then he's either being played in the wrong position or we are not defending correctly.

Our right flank was constantly being cut to ribbons on Saturday. Arsenal looked dangerous every time they attacked down that side and really should have made more of their chances. Teams with a competent central striker almost certainly will. If Mahrez is going to continue to be played in a wide role then the midfield is going to have to push across in order to cover him when he's out of position defensively. This didn't seem to happen on Saturday. Mendy was nowhere to be seen and Simpson was left facing at least two opponents. Whether that was down to poor communication between the players I don't know.

The alternative of playing Mahrez more centrally behind a lone striker is an option. We would have to sacrifice Okazaki's work rate because again Mahrez won't be capable of that, but it would provide him with the opportunity of being able to go right or left against central defenders who would be wary of bringing him down, and it would provide him with the opportunity of slipping Vardy or another central striker in. Forgive me for my poor memory, but did we try that role for him last season?
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... teams that give their all but have no game changers tend to get relegated ... we lost at Hull who, fair play, did a number on us ... and also got a great result this weekend ... we then took on Arsenal who will always trouble teams offensively but not only did we match them, we created better clear cut goalscoring chances and but for a couple of unexplainable decisions from Clattenberg would have likely won ... we may not have quite hit the ground running but I think we are getting there ...

I've never heard anyone moaning about the likes of Messi or Neymar or for that matter David Silva, Eden Hazard or Mesut Ozil not getting back and defending ... you would much rather have such players free ...

Personally I would like to see Mahrez given more of a free role in the middle ... worked very well when we di that on Saturday ... but each to his own ... we are no longer 'plucky battlers' we have palyers with real skill and talent and for me that needs to be our focus ... let's get the ball to players who can do the damage ...

Vardy is still short of complete match fitness but that will come ...

... also I don't think Andy King is the right partner for Drinkwater and I hope ranieri can strengthen in that department ...
 
I'd like to see us go for Schneiderlin of United.

Might be deemed surplus to requirements since the signing of Pogba. They might see it as an opportunity to get some money back into the kitty.
 
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AKCJ said:
I'd like to see us go for Schneiderlin of United.

Might be deemed surplus to requirements since the signing of Pogba. They might see it as an opportunity to get some money back into the kitty.
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Mouriniho already said he wants to keep him.

We are being linked with DMs though - Mario Lemina and Leandro Paredes were the last ones although those have cooled down.
 
Proud Fox said:
Riyad Mahrez is probably the greatest player ever to pull on a Leicester City shirt. To say he can't hold a candle to Davie Gibson is absurd

While I never seen Gibson play granted. But he never won a Premier League (top division) title with Leicester City

You have to accept people like Mahrez are enigma's that don't excel defensively. Just like all players of his style nowadays, there focus is on attacking
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Absolutely agree.... There's no way you can compare the two, the game has changed so much !
For example , if Walshy, Matty and Taggs were playing their style today they'd be sent off most weeks IMO ?
 
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